Month: February 2017

Bailiff’s tenure has been a success. But the downfall has been undeniable. Since winning C-USA in 2013, the win total has fallen from 10 to eight to five to three. The Owls’ S&P+ ranking has gone from 65th to 78th to 118th to 121st. In theory, when you raise your program’s standards and then fail to meet the raised bar, you are cut loose. But here Bailiff is, preparing for his 11th year near downtown H-Town.

Game Womens Tom Waddle Jersey Bailiff has already pulled off two turnarounds at Rice. Following a 3-9 debut, he ripped off 10-win season No. 1. And following a stretch of just 10 wins in three years (2009-11), he won 25 over the next three. He has proved that, given time, he can figure things out, and despite the crazy impatience of this profession, he has been given that time.

Does he have another turnaround in him? Based on what we’ve learned about the talent, it’s hard to be too optimistic. An offense that ranked 97th in Off. S&P+ must replace its leading passer, rusher, and receiver. A defense that was true dreck must replace maybe its two best playmakers. The defense does have far more experience than it did, and the offensive line could be one of the conference’s best. But is that enough? Injuries and a stomach virus played a role in Rice¡¯s low 2016 ratings, but is there actually upside?

Brown became the NFL¡¯s highest-paid receiver on Monday following a new four-year, $68 million deal with the Steelers. It comes following his fourth consecutive 1,000-yard season and a year where he caught his 50th career touchdown.

The scouting report called Brown ¡°thin and small in stature,¡± while questioning his work ethic. The report may have correctly predicted Brown as a late-round pick, but it turns out that letting Brown last until the sixth round will go down as a Tom Brady-like whiff from the rest of the NFL.LeBron James Authentic Jersey
Players in the NFL and beyond are congratulating Brown on his new deal.

The Carolina Panthers have agreed to a new three-year deal with defensive end Mario Addison.

“Mario has shown he is one of the best emerging pass rushers in the league and he deserves this contract,” general manager Dave Gettleman told the team website. “He consistently affects the quarterback, and we envision an increased role for him in our defense. He’s a pro in the way he approaches the game and brings an upbeat attitude to our locker room. We’re thrilled he will continue his career with the Panthers.”

The Panthers fill an immediate need at pass-rusher by re-signing Mario Addison, but they may still look to add an every-down defensive end.
Addison said he believes he can be an every down end, but will play whatever role the team wants.

“We met halfway in a good agreement that is a really fair deal for me,” Addison said. “I made my name here. I came here in 2012 and worked my way up.”Elite Allen Robinson Jersey
Addison, 29, led the Panthers in sacks this past season with a career-high 9.5. He has 22 over the past three seasons, which also is ahead of Pro Bowl defensive tackle Kawann Short (20.5) for the team lead during that span.

Satchel Paige Kids Jersey “In no way does this diminish our sorrow for Jerry Brown, his family and his mother,” Jones said late Sunday. “But Josh has a wish, he’d really like to have some success and financially help and take responsibility for Jerry Brown’s daughter. He’s told me that every time I’ve talked to him on the phone. This just within the last six or seven times we talked.

While the return for Brent is two weeks earlier than the original conditions set forth in a suspension announced by Roger Goodell, the NFL reportedly agreed to an adjustment to the terms of his 10-game suspension. Still, Brent won’t be eligible to play for the Cowboys until Nov. 23 against the New York Giants.

A seventh-round selection in the 2010 NFL Supplemental Draft, Brent played in 39 games at defensive tackle during his three seasons with the Cowboys, starting five games in his final season in 2012 before the fatal incident ended his year.

What is Jay Cutler’s football future if the Chicago Bears are unsuccessful in their quest to trade the veteran quarterback leading up to the new league year on March 9?

If he is left without an attractive home once the offseason’s game of quarterback musical chairs comes to a close, it’s not inconceivable that Cutler will opt for early retirement.

Interestingly enough, it has become a pseudo-pitfall for head coaches in recent years. Intra-staff takeovers in Jacksonville and Tennessee over the last two seasons have led to permanent gigs for Doug Marrone and Mike Mularkey. Lynn, who was promoted to offensive coordinator after a staff firing earlier this season, was also elevated to head coach upon Rex Ryan’s dismissal in December and heavily considered for the Buffalo Bills opening.

Owners making these decisions are starting to understand the value of consistency and instead of expensive, broad searches elsewhere to find a replacement head coach are turning to tenured coordinators or former head coaches on their own staff.

“I’ve had people ask me why I’d want to bring two head coaches to the staff, guys who have been there and done it who may want to be in your shoes,” Lynn said.

Of course, this is not the main reason Lynn should be concerned. In a piece I did last month about the turbulent first few months of a first-time head coach, one of the aspects of the job that stuck out was the need to assert yourself against competing voices. A coaching room is full of diverse experiences and Lynn will be competing to ensure his opinions stand above those of men who have held the job before.

“When you think of a 3-4 defense typically you think of a big two gap player,” Webster said. “It¡¯s rare to find players that can do that; play one gap, penetrate and get up the field and rush the passer. It¡¯s hard to find a guy that can block and be a receiver. When you have guy like Leonard who can do both that¡¯s something special.”

For a defensive lineman, being special means getting picked high in the draft. And at the top of the draft there are plenty of teams looking for a special talent on defense.

“At the end of the day, this is the NFL and this has been a dream of mine for a long time and I want to play for any team that takes me,” Williams said. “But if it comes down to it, I want to go as high as possible and that comes down to Tampa Bay and Tennessee.”Kevin Shattenkirk Kids Jersey
Williams¡¯ ascent to being in the NFL, let alone the top pick, has been a rapid one. He didn¡¯t start playing football until his freshman year in high school and couldn¡¯t play Pop Warner because he was 6-foot and 220 pounds at 12. Williams said it wasn¡¯t until his sophomore season at Mainland High School in Florida that he knew football may be in his future.

From there, he was recruited to Southern California by former Trojans recruiting ace Ed Orgeron. At USC Williams became a stalwart on the defensive line thanks to his ability to move around the line. Moving around in Southern Cal¡¯s 3-4 defense is what Williams preferred.

Jrue Holiday Kids Jersey “It was more fun to create matchups and go up against some weaker opponents once in a while,” Williams said. “When the coaches switched it up for me, I liked it.”

“What’s your assessment of the Golden State Warriors’ center personnel? Do you think Zaza Pachulia is proving to be a good fit? Is JaVale McGee showing true starter potential or is he still too prone to defensive mistakes?” — Alan Reder

Tyreke Evans Youth Jersey After his slow start, it seems like Pachulia has been about what we expected: an efficient scorer who can benefit from the talent around him, an excellent playmaker from the high post and a solid defensive rebounder. There might be some playoff matchups that are problematic, but for the most part he’s a solid starter.Ibraheim Campbell Youth Jersey
He notes that playing corner has helped him understand how to be a more effective receiver, but as Richard Sherman has noted many times during his career, that added understanding of nuance goes both ways.

Playing corner “helps me just as far as knowing what a corner wants to do,” he told media members gathered around a his table at Lucas Oil Stadium. “Knowing what they’re thinking as far as where I line up, as far as leverage, as far as when I get an inside release, and outside release, what routes are already in their head, eliminating things like that. I try to do things like that to manipulate how I run it. If I get an outside release, I’ll probably try to make an in-route, because the eyes on that are really different. Just try to manipulate as much as I can.”

The defensive lineman and linebackers are scheduled to get their medical exams and measurements, and also are required to meet with the media and continue interviewing with interested teams. The defensive backs finally arrive in Indianapolis on Friday, and shortly afterwards will go through the registration and orientation process on their first day at the combine.

Limited Kids Ronald Leary Jersey The 2016 Chicago Cubs were the most extraordinary team in baseball history. Not because they won 103 games in the regular season — there have been 36 other teams that’ve done at least that well. And not because they won the World Series — every season ends with someone winning the World Series. In these ways the Cubs were great, but they weren’t exceptional.

Where the Cubs really shined was in preventing hits. If you don’t give up hits, you don’t give up runs, and the Cubs allowed opponents to hit just .212, the lowest mark since 1968. That’s remarkable already, but more than you might think from just that number.

Game Blair Walsh Jersey We have to turn to Batting Average on Balls In Play, or BABIP, a stat that suffers from long-acronym syndrome but is really quite intuitive. All it describes is batting average on at-bats without home runs and strikeouts. It functions as a good measure of team defense. The Cubs allowed a BABIP of just .255, putting them absurdly ahead of the rest of the majors last season:

BACK IN THE wind-chilled shadows of Sunrise Mountain, Bryce Harper punches the clock at his old stomping grounds. This is not a one-time thing — it has been a regular occurrence throughout the winter. It’s also a stark contrast from last offseason, when he worked out in relative luxury at the Boras Sports Training Institute in Southern California (he has logged some time there this winter too), and never took a single swing at Harper Field. The fact that he decided to return to his roots is no coincidence.

“He needed to get back to normalcy and feeling like he used to,” says Thomas, the high school coach. “He needed to get back to familiarity.”

Ingram was the last first-round pick of the A.J. Smith era, which in theory could mean general manager Tom Telesco might not be as inclined to pay big money for Ingram.

Considering the improvements in the Chargers’ pass rush from 2015 to 2016, however, the team will have to think long and hard about whether it can afford to lose the 2012 first-round pick. Ingram teamed with Joey Bosa to form one of the best edge rushing pairs in all of football. Being able to retain the linebacker and keep one of the league’s strongest front sevens intact would be huge for the Chargers, new head coach Anthony Lynn and his defensive coordinator Gus Bradley.

One bright spot in 2016: special teams. The punts were pretty short, but the Eagles ranked fourth in field goal efficiency, ninth in kickoffs, and 30th in punt returns on the way to a No. 30 ranking in Special Teams S&P+.

Sophomore Tyler Bass was responsible for the kickoffs and might be a decent replacement for placekicker Younghoe Koo, but the departure of both Koo and punt returner Montay Crockett hurts.

Summers has recruited well here. We’ll see how quickly that can make a difference. Four three-star freshman ends could make a difference, along with three freshman linebackers and a JUCO transfer (Tomarcio Reese). If you can get contributions from a couple, and you luck out from an injuries perspective, maybe you can duct tape a decent front seven together.

Injuries could be devastating, though. End Logan Hunt and tackle Darrius Sapp are the only returning linemen with more than two tackles last year, and senior Chris DeLaRosa and sophomore Todd Bradley are the only linebackers with more than 2.5. There are a lot of former three-star guys up front (not just the freshmen); they’ll need to play like it.

Draymond Green is an NBA All-Star for a reason beyond scoring: he contributes to all areas of winning. And the Warriors¡¯ point forward showed why he¡¯s an invaluable piece to a championship organization on Friday during Golden State¡¯s 122-107 win over the Memphis Grizzlies.

Green scored just four points but posted 12 rebounds, 10 assists, 10 steals, and five blocks, becoming the first player in NBA history to record a triple-double without at least 10 points, according to Elias Sports Bureau.

Elite Womens Merril Hoge Jersey His historic night did not end there. The Warriors forward surpassed Rick Barry and Michael Ray Richardson to break the Warriors¡¯ single-season record for steals in a game.

Draymond Green: 12 reb, 10 ast & a franchise-record 10 stl. Warriors are now 18-0 in the regular season when Green tallies a triple-double.

Had he scored six more points, the Warriors forward would have become just the fourth player since 1983-84 to post a quadruple-double alongside Robertson, David Robinson, and Hakeem Olajuwon, according to Basketball-Reference.

That¡¯s amazing company for Green, whose play has catapulted Golden State to a 45-8 record.Authentic Sam Shields Jersey
While the NBA has new contract rules to incentivize players to stay with the teams that drafted them, there¡¯s no guarantee Westbrook will commit, especially if the Thunder get ejected early and Durant hoists an O¡¯Brien in June. The allure of a ring has proved to sway many players in the past, even when piles of money are at stake.

This all sounds pessimistic and it should. Caterwauling at Durant and his new coastal clique will feel good, but then it¡¯s Sunday morning and reality comes back into focus. This is sports fandom: a lifetime of anxious disappointment punctuated by brief moments of exhilaration.

Saturday night should offer the latter to the Thunder faithful. Enjoy it while it lasts, because it doesn¡¯t last.

Elite Youth Rob Havenstein Jersey As Roger Goodell presented Robert Kraft with the Lombardi Trophy amid a deafening cacophony of boos, the Patriots¡¯ all-time accolades started sinking in: five championships for Tom Brady, the most of any QB ever; five for Bill Belichick, the most of any coach. (Does that make them the GOATs of their respective roles? That¡¯s a more complicated question.) The Patriots¡¯ dynasty rolls on as the most impressive in NFL history.

And, of course, they did it in the most improbable comeback in Super Bowl history, scoring four touchdowns and a field goal in their final five drives to erase a 25-point third-quarter deficit.

With all of that history on the mind, we¡¯re going to wrap things up for now. Thanks for joining us for a Super Bowl that we ¡ª and everyone else ¡ª will be talking about for a long, long time. We¡¯ll be back to unpack things tomorrow, but for now, good night!Elite Youth Mike Morgan Jersey
After there were no ATS pushes in the first 30 Super Bowls, this game featured the third push of a point spread or total in four years. The Rams were up 10 entering the fourth quarter, but the Titans tied the game up with 2:12 to go. Kurt Warner found Isaac Bruce for a 73-yard touchdown pass to put the Rams up by 7, and Tennessee’s final drive stalled at the 1-yard line. The Rams held on to a seven-point victory, which Rams bettors may have viewed as a victory.

His message didn’t sink in immediately, but the vision really started to take shape following a 24-15 loss at Philadelphia in Week 10. After the Falcons got physically dominated on both sides of the ball, Quinn challenged his players, coaches and even himself to dig deeper and find elements of their games to improve in preparation for the stretch run. The self-reflection took place during the ensuing bye week, and the Falcons responded with a more spirited effort the remainder of the season, winning seven of eight games heading into the Super Bowl.